Yes, I'm In Love
by xscarredx13
Summary: Nico di Angelo has never really loved anyone. Sure, he loved Bianca, but she was his sister. So... what happens when a new camper arrives? And who is her parent?
1. Who's the New Girl's Daddy?

**This is basically my first fanfic, 'cause it's not a one-shot. I love Nico and all his glory, so I made up something. This is short, but... BE KIND!  
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Do I _look_ like I own that awesome series?No. Nope.**

**Yes, I'm In Love **

Chapter One- Who's The New Girl's Daddy?

Percy's POV

I closed my eyes, and breathed out deeply. I, Percy Jackson, was in archery practice. Just to let you know, I SUCK at archery. And Annabeth was watching me, to make things worse. There's no better way to humiliate yourself than to do it IN FRONT OF YOUR GIRLFRIEND.

After missing ten targets, I gave up just as a girl approached me. She had kinda fringy black hair and dark, serious eyes. She was emo-ish; she had spray-painted her orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt black and covered the words with white-out. She was new; I had never seen her before. She reminded me of someone I knew…

"Percy Jackson, savior of Olympus and the world. You suck at archery. Really, you do." The girl said.

Hmph. She didn't _sound_ very emo. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Annabeth smirk.

"Who are you?" I demanded. The girl waved her hand in the air. "Oh, I'm just the new camper. Miri. Miri Agopian."

I blinked. "Okay. Who's your parent? Hecate? Eris?"

The girl glanced at me. "I don't know. I'm here for Annabeth; I have to ask her something."

At this, Annabeth jogged over. "Hello, Miri," she said, smiling. I guess they'd met before.

"Hi Annabeth!"Miri said. "I need to ask you about… you know."

Annabeth nodded, but I was really confused. "What?"

My girlfriend's grey eyes flickered, warning me. "Nothing, Percy. Now mind your own business."

As Annabeth and Miri walked away, I swear I heard Annabeth mutter, "Stupid Seaweed Brain."

What did I do wrong?

Miri's POV

I looked at Annabeth, her blond curls and all. I'm jealous of her already, because she has Percy. She's not alone, like I always am. Sure, I have plenty of friends. In fact, I'm already besties with Lena from the Apollo cabin, and I just got here yesterday. But I want someone—some guy—to … _love._ I know it sounds cheesy, but every girl wants that, you know? And I do, too.

"Annabeth?" I said hesitantly. She looked at me. Even though she's like, three years older than me, she didn't have to look down. I'm pretty tall.

"Yeah, Miri?"

"Um…" I bit my lip. I wanted to ask her about her relationship with Percy, but… for once I had no confidence. So I chickened out and said, "You really think my dad's Thanatos?"

Annabeth thought for a moment and said, "Well… maybe. You made an ant die by just looking at it once, right?"

"It was just an ant!" I rolled my eyes. "And since I felt bad about it, I prayed really hard that the ant would come back to life. It did, after that."

Annabeth's jaw dropped. "Why didn't you tell me that?!" she exclaimed.

"Tell you what? My love for animals?" I said, puzzled.

"No, the fact that you brought a creature back to life! Your dad could be—" Annabeth suddenly froze, eyes wide.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked her.

She raised her hand and pointed, finger trembling, at something above my head.

I quickly looked up.

There, the little insignia glowing, was the sign of the Helm of Terror—Hades' helm.

Nico's POV

I sat on my bed, alone, in the Hades cabin. Cabin 13. It's pretty nice, with black-sheeted beds, paintings of death on the wall, torch-lamps with black fire, and a few skeleton sculptures that may or may not be real. A few of my ghost servants stood in the corner, staring blankly ahead.

But Cabin 13 is still awfully lonely.

I ran my fingers across my black Stygian sword, which was sitting in my lap, and just…thought to myself. I was lonely.

Percy has Annabeth, Clarisse has Chris, Grover has Juniper, and even Silena and Beckendorf have each other, somewhere in the Elysium. Me? I'm not sure I'll ever have anyone. I had Bianca, but that was because she was my sister. Bianca's dead, anyway. I miss her more than anything in the world.

Just then, the door swung open. It was so sudden that I jumped and… accidently cut myself with my sword. Wincing and swearing, I threw the blade aside, grabbed a square of ambrosia, and glared at whoever had just entered my cabin.

It turned out to be Annabeth and a girl. My eyes widened when I saw the girl. She seemed dark and gloomy, and yet witty and sarcastic. She had layered black hair, with an emo fringe and a streak of… neon green, strangely. Her camp shirt had been totally redecorated. The girl stared at me, her big eyes burning into mine. She was… cute.

"This is Miri Agopian," Annabeth said, breaking the silence I hadn't even realized we were in.

"Oh, uh, hey." I stammered. "I'm Nico di Angelo, son of Hades."

Miri gave me a cocky grin. "Son of Hades, huh?" She pulled a pin-covered black backpack out of nowhere and dumped it onto one of the bunks. "Whassup, _bro_?"


	2. She's a Better AssKicker

**This is extremely short, I know. Eh, whatever. I just want to say something: If the gods don't have genetics, then two children from the same cabin can't be really related unless their mortal parents' are related. So basically, Miri and Nico AREN'T GENETICALLY RELATED. Get what I'm saying?  
****That's my theory... though most of my theories barely make any sense.**

**READ & REVIEW!**

Chapter Two- She's a Better Ass-Kicker

Nico's POV

The next morning, I woke up by rays of sunlight in my eyes, coming from the window.

Wait a minute… there aren't any windows in my cabin!

My eyes shot open and I practically jumped out of bed, coming almost nose to nose with… Miri.

Oh, right. I have a roommate now. I forgot.

"You're cute when you're asleep." She commented, looking at me up and down. I blushed, because… 1) I was only in my black boxers, and 2) She just called me cute.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I do NOT have a crush on my half sister. I do NOT!

My eyes roamed the room, trying to find the source of the unexpected sunlight. Then I spotted it—a hole in the wall, with a chunk of the cabin lying on the floor near it.

"What did you _do?!_" I yelped. Miri simply shrugged. "I thought there should be some light in the cabin. Sure, the darkness is awesome; but gods, I don't like reading in the dark, even with those weird torch-lamps!"

I glared at her. "Are you sure you're Hades' daughter?"

Miri looked offended. "Of course I am! I even talked to Daddy yesterday. He said, 'Nico's the densest mortal I know. You must be very straightforward with your brother.'"

Thanks, Dad.

I scowled and turned to my ghost servants. "Why didn't you stop her from creating that hole in the wall?"

They bowed, and one ghost said, "You are our master, and she is our mistress. She has control over us, too."

Miri gave me an I-told-you-so smile. I scowled again and looked at her. She was already dressed, wearing her camp T-shirt with a dark hoodie, black skinny jeans, and beat-up black high-tops. Her hair was brushed out, and she had on some eyeliner. No mascara, eye shadow, lip gloss or other stuff.

Just eyeliner.

Me? I was _still_ only in my boxers.

"Come on, shirtless." Miri grinned. "Get dressed; it's time to go down to breakfast."

……………………………………………..

I sat with Miri at the Hades table during breakfast. It felt good to be with someone, to not be alone for once. And Miri was a big talker. Soon I knew all about her life: She lives with her mom in northeast New Jersey, she has lots of friends, and she was taken to Camp Half-Blood by the Stoll twins after she successfully got rid of an _empuosa_ that almost killed all her guy friends. She's thirteen years old, like me, although technically I'm _much_ older.

"Miri," I asked her as she stopped talking to eat her cereal, "How did you manage to make that hole in our cabin?"

Miri swallowed her food and pulled something out of her pocket. It was a shiny, fancy black fountain pen with _Miri_ etched on the side in neon green. I stared at it for a long time before I realized what it actually was.

"Dad liked the idea of Percy's sword, Riptide, so…" She shrugged. I was silent.

"It's _so_ unoriginal, but it's awesome. And it's made of Stygian iron. It doesn't have a name, though."

Miri clicked the fountain pen, and it transformed into a huge black sword that was very much like mine.

"Yours is like this, right? Stygian and totally black?"She asked.

_Yeah, but it's not an awesome pen,_ I thought, jealous. Why didn't Dad give me one?

I pulled out my sword. "Yup, here it is." I replied.

"Cool!" Miri rubbed the bottom of the hilt of her sword, and it turned back into a pen.

I sheathed mine, feeling kind of not unique.

"Let's go." I said, tugging on Miri's arm.

During one-on-one combat in sword practicing, I was paired up with… who else? My half sister.

"I'll go easy on you, don't worry," I promised her. Miri rolled her eyes and clicked her pen, which caused Percy (who was fighting Annabeth) to raise his eyebrows. "Nice weapon." He said, ducking as Annabeth's dagger went for his head. If the dagger had got him, it wouldn't have done any damage anyway, Percy being invincible and all.

I turned back to Miri, only to discover she was already lunging toward me!

"AHHHH!" I yelled, and jumped out of the way. I unsheathed my sword and ran forward.

CLANK! The sound of our swords meeting at the middle was loud enough for a few of the younger campers to jump. A few black sparks actually flew.

I let go and aimed down, near Miri's armored stomach, while ducking quickly. But Miri was fast, and almost _flew_ out of the way, got behind me, and pushed me down by the back. I tasted defeat as the point of her sword touched my neck lightly, sending chills down my spine.

Then the sword was gone, and I rolled over.

A few people laughed at me, because I had been defeated by the new girl… who was also my _sister._ I felt the blood rush up to my cheeks as the Ares cabin snickered loudly.

And then I saw a hand.

A slender, olive-toned hand with nails covered in black Sharpie. Miri was offering me her hand.

"Get up, Nico, you didn't lose yet." She grinned. "Want a rematch?"

**I'm a corny person, so don't rip my head off later. Bye!- xscarredx13**


	3. Apollo's Children and The Beach

**Ok. I know my theory was a little gross, but... come on! I needed an excuse.  
******

I'm thinking of a plot. I've ideas, but I'm still putting it together. Meanwhile, please allow yourself to be covered in fluff. You might choke on it, but don't expect ME to pay for your health insurance!  
Thanx to all who reviewed... Someday, when I own PJO, I'll treat you all to pie. Which reminds me...

Disclaimer: Keep waiting for that pie...

Chapter Three- Apollo's Children and The Beach

Miri's POV

When Nico took my hand during one-on-one combat, I swear I felt a little electricity go up my arm. It was a shock, really. Hey, I'm not being dramatic. Nico just makes me feel… _good_; even when he totally beat me in the rematch. I've only known him for a day and a half, but he's already the best brother in the world to me. Not that I have any other brothers, but…

"MMMIIIIRRRRIIIIII!!!!!" A voice yelled into my ear. A jumped a few feet in the air, and broke off from my thoughts to see my new friend, Lena. The pretty, angry, crazy and happy Lena Clipse, daughter of Apollo. She put her hands on her hips and stared at me. "Miri, what are you daydreaming about? I asked you if you're going to the beach tomorrow with me!"

"The…beach? I really… I'm…" I tried to make up an excuse from the top of my mind. "Uh, I can't because I'm… busy."

Lena crossed her arms and flipped back her auburn hair. "Busy with what? Everyone's got the day off tomorrow."

"I'm not going anyway," I huffed. Lena gave me a puppy dog look.

"Nope." I confirmed, tearing my eyes away from the cuteness. Lena's the kind of girl that has looks… and anger issues.

"You're coming!" I looked up and saw an arrow inches away from my face, Lena holding the bow.

"Okay!" I whimpered, raising my hands in the air.

Lena smiled and lowered the bow. _Crazy daughter of Apollo!_ I thought to myself.

I must've looked a little depressed about going, because Lena whispered, "I heard everyone's going, even Percy. And you know what that means?"

I blinked. "Um… no, not really."

Lena rolled her eyes. "It means, _Percy's gonna convince NICO to go_!"

Suddenly, I remembered this morning, when Nico was only in his boxers. Although he looks skinny, he's not scrawny. He's got really lean muscles and…

"You're drooling." Lena commented before skipping happily away, her long hair trailing behind her.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I do NOT have a crush on my half brother. I do NOT!

That is just plain GROSS! And that's so stupid, falling for someone you only knew for a day. I don't like him in that way. It's like… incest!

But what if I do?

DAMMIT! SHUT UP, MIRI, SHUT UP!

Nico's POV

There was a knock on the cabin door. I rolled off my bed, ruffling up my hair. If it was Miri, I had to look good. Oh, wait… Miri wouldn't knock, would she? This is her cabin,too, right?

I'm an idiot.

"Nico!" Percy said once I opened the door. He looked really happy... but also like he was going to ask something from me. Uh oh.

I groaned as his green eyes sparkled. "What do you want from me, Percy?"

Percy's eyes glittered even more. They literally looked like emeralds mixed with sea water.

"Hey, man. Do you want to go to the beach?"

I slammed the door in his face.

**Later that night**

I couldn't sleep, so I decided to have a loooong conversation about weapons with the ghost of an old army general. It wasn't fun, though, when we woke up Miri.

She immediately gave me a piercing glare and rolled over in bed when I explained I couldn't sleep. "Shut up. It's your own fault you took a nap in the middle of the day. Do you usually do that?"

"Hey!" I argued. "I didn't get enough naptime anyway! Percy woke me up!"

At this, Miri turned around to look at me. "Really? Did he mention anything about… going to the beach?"

I was surprised. "How did you know that?"

She shrugged, and hesitated for a moment before asking, "Are you… Are you going?"

Miri had a tint of hopefulness in her voice, and I wondered if _she_ was going.

"Are _you_ going?" I asked. Miri laughed and said, "Yeah. I better, or Lena's gonna kill me with her archery skills. What about you?"

I looked at her. She looked hopeful, and she somehow reminded me of when I was with Bianca.

"I… Um…" Why was my mouth suddenly very dry? "Sure, I'll go."

Miri smiled, then pressed her face to her pillow and said—voice muffled— "You rock, Nico!"

And, after that, I fell asleep.

Miri's POV

Yes, I do have a crush on my half brother. You're thinking,_EEEWWW!!!_, right? But it's not really incest, I think. Gods don't have DNA, so we're practically… not related. I really do like Nico…

I woke up early, because I had to find that black one-piece I had. I rummaged in my backpack, which I hadn't bothered to really unpack. All I took out before was my pajamas, my hoodie, a pair of jeans, my eyeliner, and Ribcage, my teddy bear. Now I dumped the whole bag over. Shorts, jeans, another hoodie(I don't get hot in the summer), liquid eyeliner, pencil eyeliner, two shirts, socks, flip-flops… all that stuff and more. I wondered how it all fit in that backpack. Finally, I found my... bikini. I stared at it for a long time, before sighing and slipping it on. Then I put on shorts and a T-shirt over it and headed out the door toward the Apollo cabin.

I knocked on the door,and waited for Lena or one of her siblings to open up.

And a hot guy answered.

My mouth dropped open as I stared at him. He had blond hair, dark blue eyes, and a smile as bright as his dad's.

"I answer the door

There is a hot emo girl

Hi, I am Aaron." The guy ticked off in haiku. The poem was bad… _and_ he was hitting on me!

"Hey, I'm Miri." I said, forcing a smile. "And I'm not emo, I just like dark clothes. Plus, I'm Hades' daughter."

Aaron's grin faltered a little when I said Dad's name, but he regained it quickly. "You're cute. Who are you looking for, babe?"

"Lena," I answered.

Aaron winced. "My scary sis, huh? Come on in, cutie."

I entered the cabin. Lena was sitting on one of the top bunks, painting her nails orange. "Lena!" I called out to her. She looked up from her self-manicure and grinned at me. "Hey, Miri! You ready to go to the shore?" She blew on her pinky nail and jumped off the bunk.

"Are _you_ ready?" I asked her. Lena nodded, then frowned. "Sorry, but Percy said he couldn't convince Nico," she said.

I smiled. "Yeah, but _I_ convinced him!"

Lena squealed, and for a moment she sounded like a daughter of Aphrodite. "He must really like you," she breathed dreamily.

"Who?" Aaron interrupted.

"No one!" I said quickly, glaring at Lena, who promptly ignored me. "No one but her one true love!" she sang. Aaron narrowed his eyes, and I inched toward the door, kind of creeped out. "Uh… See you guys later!" I left immediately.

………………………………………………………………….

Nico was already up when I got back to Cabin 13. He was in swimming trunks and a T-shirt. He looked great, and so much better than Aaron, I realized. But he was also scowling.

"Hey, Nico, what's up?" I asked, wiping up my drool and wondering what was wrong.

He looked at me and smiled. "Nothing much. But… do we _have_ to go to the beach?" he seemed annoyed, but didn't even wait for my answer. "Whatever. Anyway, you look great."

I blushed at the unexpected compliment. "Thanks, you do too."

I opened the door and we both headed off to breakfast.

I sat at the Hades table, sipping orange juice. Next to me, Nico scarfed down some bacon. For some reason, he looked really pissed. There was a crack on the floor that was growing and growing… flames were coming out of it. I stared hard at the crack, and willed it to close up again. The black fire died down, but the crack was still there. I clenched my fist, and a wall of black stone filled it up. I looked up, slightly tired out, to see what Nico was glaring at.

Aaron was smiling at me from the Apollo table. Uh, ew!  
So I faked a smile back and grabbed Nico's coffee. I had to stay awake if I wanted to have a perfect day.

When we arrived at the beach, I closed my eyes and breathed in sea air. Mmm… It was salty. Percy looked like he was in heaven. He could've just went into the water without getting wet, but _no..._ he took off his shirt anyway, so he could show off his six-pack.(Annabeth was salivating, although sh was trying to hide it.)

And Nico... Nico...Nico...

Yeah, that's how good he looks.

Aaron's POV

Okay, that Miri chick is pretty cute. I haven't really taken any serious interest in girls lately—because I'm too busy worrying about _her_, back home—but maybe I'll make an exception. Whenever I mention it, though, Lena's all, "Oh, she already has a one true love." Then she muttered something about "insects" or whatever.

So I'm at the beach, looking good as usual, hitting on the Aphrodite girls. I'm really just looking for Miri.

"LENA!" I scream. My red-headed sis with the anger issues skips over.

"Whattaya want, hot shot?" she asks.

"Find me Miri. Now."

Oops. I shouldn't have been so demanding, because Lena's pulling out her bow and arrows…

"Gods, Lena, I'm sorry! Just tell me where Miri is!"

Lena glares at me still, and jabs her finger toward a random direction. I follow her finger and… there's Miri! Holy Apollo, she looks hot in that bikini!

"Thanks. What's she doing?" I ask, too lazy to look myself. Hey, she's far away.

"Are you blind?!" Lena yells.

"Nah, just lazy." I answer, slipping on my shades, hoping my half sis doesn't kill me.

Lena just sighs in exasperation and says, "She's building a sand castle with Nico."

Uh… who's Nico again? I squint hard, trying to see them. Oh, Nico's that dude… who's the kid of… I forgot. Thanatos, maybe? Whoever he is, he shouldn't be with Miri. Suddenly, I felt like an over-protective brother. Or boyfriend.

I grabbed Lena's bow before she could stop me and took a good aim. I used the special arrows that don't injure people that much, but they _do_ sting.

There… a little to the left… perfect! I pulled back, then let go. I watched the arrow soar through the air, getting closer to hitting my target… but at the last moment, Nico looked up. Damn his fast reflexes! He made a huge wall of black stone come in front of himself and Miri, and my arrow bounced harmlessly off. Miri turned to me.

I gulped, because her eyes were glowing a little black. Like, madwoman eyes. She looked pissed, really pissed. She got up and stomped toward me.

"WHAT THE HADES DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" she screamed. There was crazy fury in her eyes. I looked down and saw a crack. Yeah, a huge crack on the beach, with some sand falling into it. But when the sand fell, it burst into flames! I took a step back, because the crack was growing bigger and bigger.

"Miri?" I said weakly. Did she really like that Nico dude that much? Where was Nico anyway? Oh, he was still sitting next to the sand castle, staring at Miri with a look of confusion in his dark eyes. He didn't even seem that grumpy anym—Wait minute, _dark eyes_? I looked from Miri to Nico, from Nico to Miri. They had the same glowing irises, except at the moment Miri's were angrier. But they were the same, for sure. They were Hades' eyes.

Oh, gods. So _that's_ who Nico's dad is. Nico and Miri are _siblings_, nothing else. Oops.

The crack was getting under my feet… and… OH SHIT! Yeah, I fell.

"AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!" I started shrieking like a little girl… before I realized someone was stopping me from falling to my doom. I looked up and saw… Nico, his hand locked onto my wrist. (How did he run over so fast?) He pulled me up, and turned to Miri.

"WHAT THE HADES WERE YOU DOING?"

"HE WAS TRYING TO SHOOT YOU!"

"I'M A BIG BOY, I CAN HANDLE IT MYSELF!"

"But Nico, I was actually worried about you…" A strange expression crossed Miri's face.

Nico smiled at her. It was strange to see that dark and scary guy smile like that.

"Thanks, Miri." He slung his arm around her shoulders, and the hurt look on Miri's face turned into a grin. "Come on, bro, let's finish our castle." They walked away.

_Shit, what was that?_ I thought. _Incest much?_

**That. was. Terrible. I want some aaaccttiioonn!  
**

**Travis Stoll: Yeah, me too!  
Me: How the Hades did YOU get here?  
Travis: I'm not really sure. You're on your own with that one.**

**Okay, whatever. review.**


	4. iDream, iWake, iCuss

**Alright. I've decided to change Miri's dad, because someone called me "sick" for suggesting incest. So I Googled some Greek gods, and finally found a perfect parent for Miri. He's so dark...  
I had trouble writing this. A few days ago, a boy ripped out my heart and stomped all over it, so I was pretty depressed.**

**Not that you would care.**

Chapter Four- iDream, iWake, iCuss.

Nico's POV

Percy said demigod dreams suck.

Yup. They do.

I was at my dad's place, obviously. I could recognize the dark place anytime. My father was sitting on his throne, but Persephone's flowery seat was empty. Thank the gods it was summer… that goddess hates me.

"Um… My lord?" I asked. "What am I doing here?"

Dad looked down at me from his throne, his fiery eyes burning intensely… as usual.

"Hello, son."

Hmm. He didn't seem to be in a bad mood. In fact, he just looked bored.

I glanced around at the marble walls and the skeletons in the corner. Their jaws moved slightly—they were grinning, I think. I looked back up at my father, waiting for him to speak.

"Well, Nico," he said at last, the bored expression still on his face. "I didn't want to tell you this, but…" He tapped the throne, his fingers scraping across the fused human bodies.

"But what?" I asked tentatively.

"Don't interrupt me!" Hades boomed. The ground shook a little.

I bowed, used to his anger. "I'm sorry, Father. Continue."

He sighed, rubbing his pale temples. "Miri isn't really your half sister."

_What?!_

"Um… What was that?"

Dad glared at me, the flames in his eyes leaping dangerously. "Are you deaf, boy? Miri isn't really your half sister."

"But… You talked to her! You even gave her a sword!" I stammered.

Hades rolled his eyes. "I was covering for a friend of mine. He… He doesn't want her to find out who her dad really is."

My dad covered for someone? _My_ dad?  
Reading my thoughts, he glared at me again. "I can be nice, you know."

I shrugged. "Okay, my lord. So… I'm not Miri's half brother after all?"  
Dad shook his head. "Nope. But Charon is."

If I had been drinking some water, I would've spit it out. All over my daddy's bronze floors.

"_Erebus?_" I choked out. "Miri's dad is _Erebus_?!"

"Don't tell her!" Dad said, and the scene started to change.

……………………………………………………

I found myself sitting on a cloud. Yeah, a _cloud._ It was fluffy and pink, and I felt like I was sitting on a Tempurpedic mattress instead of evaporated water. As the cloud floated slowly, I sniffed the air, immediately catching a whiff of some _really_ good perfume.

"Nico!" A voice cooed.

Aphrodite had appeared out of nowhere, standing before me on thin air. She was wearing a shimmery dress, and she looked as beautiful as always.

"H-Hi," I stammered, inhaling her perfume.

The goddess of love smiled at me, and pulled something out of her purse. It was… an iPod. A pink iPod Nano, decorated with little red hearts.

"Um... Cool iPod." I said, although I would've preferred a black one myself.

Aphrodite gave me a stunningly bright smile. "Thank you." She flicked the iPod on, and scrolled through her songs.

"Hmm… have you ever listened to Taylor Swift?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but she answered the question herself. "Nah, you probably don't. Whatever." She carefully stuck her earphones into her ears, trying not to mess up her hair.  
"Anyway," the goddess said. She adjusted her dress, then sat down next to me on the fluffy pink cloud.

"You just found out that Miri isn't your sister after all, didn't you?" She flashed another bright grin. "That means that you don't have to follow those demigod rules. You can freely fall in love with her."

I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks, and I spontaneously grabbed one of Aphrodite's earphones. She had somehow expected me to do that, so I (luckily) didn't mess up her hair.

_And I said,  
"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.  
I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.  
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess  
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'"_

Oh. _That _song. Um, what's it called? Love… Love…

"'Love Story'," Aphrodite said, smiling dreamily as she bobbed her head to the music.  
"I bet you're going to have a love story with Miri. You guys are going to be like Percy and Annabeth!"

"Uh… okay," I said, as the country music blared on. It was a little strange to be sitting on a pink cloud with the goddess of love, listening to her iPod.

"So, uh… why are you here in my dream, ma'am?" I looked around uneasily. The cloud (and our conversation) was going nowhere.

"Let's see…" She seemed to have forgotten. After five minutes, she suddenly snapped her fingers. "Oh, wait! I remember now!" Aphrodite smiled at me. "I want you to start your own love story. I'm not going to interfere… that much."

"Love story… with _Miri_?" I squeaked, panicking.

"Yeah. Who else?" She gave me a _duh! _Look.

"NO!" I yelled.

Aphrodite stared at me for a long moment before rolling her beautiful eyes.

"What, you liked her better when you thought you two were actually siblings? On demigod standards, that's kind of disgusting."

"That's not what I meant!" I yelped. "I'm just…"  
_Wimpy. You hang around dead people, yet you can't make a move on a girl!_ I thought glumly to myself.

"Exactly!" Aphrodite exclaimed. Taylor Swift's song was almost over now, and she pulled the earphone out of my ear. "So go out there and confess your dying love, then you won't be a wimp anymore!"

I sighed, wondering why this goddess decided on bothering _me._

"No thanks," I muttered.

All gods can look scary when they're angry, even Aphrodite. Her eyes got icy cold as she glared at me, her expression getting hard. Hearts danced in her eyes, each breaking in half with loud _crack!_

After a few long, painful minutes of immortal anger, she calmed down.

"Okay, fine. Maybe you just don't know how to make a move. That's fine. I don't have enough time to force you two together, anyway."

I sighed in relief, glad she wasn't going to do anything.

"But…" Aphrodite said slowly.

I froze, not wanting to find out what she was planning on doing. Why couldn't the stupid dream just end?

"My children love playing cupid. In fact, one of my kids _is_ Cupid—Eros. But that's not my point. My point is..." Aphrodite smiled. "I can influence my children to force you and Miri together. And I will. Maybe I'll visit their dreams…" Her smile grew, bigger and bigger.

"Bye, Nico! Enjoy your love life!" Before I could protest, the goddess disappeared in a cloud of sweet perfume.

The cloud disappeared, too, and I went tumbling down.

I woke to huge rays of sunlight shining in my eyes. _Gods!_ I thought. _If Miri is a daughter of the god of darkness, why does she like the sun so much?_

Wait a second… Miri's the daughter of the god of darkness!

The memories of my dream slammed hard into my mind, and my eyes fluttered open.

The first thing I saw was a pair of dark eyes staring down at me. But they weren't _my_ eyes anymore. They weren't Dad's.  
They were Erebus's, and they were so _different._ Some people might think we have the same eyes, that we have Hades' eyes. I thought that, too. But now I realized our eyes weren't alike at all. When I looked in the mirror, I saw mad, fiery eyes; eyes that reflected the dead. Miri's eyes, staring down at me right now, weren't like that at all. They were shadowy black, a never-ending well of darkness.

"Oh, you're up! I've gotta tell you something." Miri said, pinching my cheek. I sat up, glaring at my…"Sister".

"What do you want?" I growled. My eyes focused on the ghost servants standing in the corner. One of them—the skeleton who had once said that Miri had control over them like I did—gave me a nod that clearly said, "_I was forced by your father, Master. She is not really our Mistress, as you know."_

I sighed, looking back to Miri.

"Alright, what do you need to tell me?" I asked inquiringly.

Her face broke into a grin. "Do you know Antoinette, from the Aphrodite cabin?"

I shrugged; I really didn't want to think about Aphrodite.

Wait.

I froze, thinking about what the love goddess had said.

"_I can influence my children to force you and Miri together. And I will. Maybe I'll visit their dreams…"_

Oh, no.

Miri continued on, taking a seat on the edge of my bed, oblivious to how stiff and rigid I had suddenly become.

"Antoinette had this idea, and she told it to Chiron. He agreed, so…"

I braced myself. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Maybe it had nothing to do with me at all.

Miri grinned, as if it was a joke. "So… for the first time, Camp Half-Blood is going to have a _dance_! Everyone has to go, so you can't back out of this, Nico. Plus, you have to ask someone to go with you. Who are you gonna ask?"

I was frozen like a block of ice. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I _had_ to go? I _had_ to ask someone?

"Miri," Aphrodite's voice echoed in my head. "Ask Miri."

Aw, shit.

**Review... **


	5. Voices In My Head, Voices Outside It

**A/N: Folks, it's been so long. Looking back, I don't wonder why I took a break from this thing. It sucked.  
But, uh, I started this up again when I was at someone's party. And I think it can work. I'm trying a new plot, one that's different from the one I was planning on before. And I'll try to make less Mary-Sue OC characters.**

**Thanks so much for reviewing!**

*******

_**Nico**_

I hate dancing.

Let me just tell you that, whoever you are. I hate dancing. I'd rather burn in the fiery pits of Tartarus than dance at a prom or spring formal or whatever the Hades people have at mortal schools.

Ah. See, I don't have to go to school anymore. Lucky, lucky me, huh?

So anyhow, asking Miri if I could be her escort to… to this _thing_ was out of question if I wouldn't be going at all. 'Cause I wasn't, due to my dancing disability. I wasn't asking anyone and because I was definitely, _defintely _not going. No matter whatever Aphrodite said, that irritable hag.

_Excuse me?_

Er, nothing. Nothing at all, ma'am.

_Don't call me 'ma'am'. It makes me feel old._

Oh, uh, sorry.

Ahem. So as I was saying earlier, I wasn't going to ask Miri to come with me to this stupid little camp thing, this stupid little thing that Chiron must be out of his mind to agree to, this _stupid_ little thing that was absurdly ridiculous to host at a demigod camp!

Why would I ask Miri, anyway? People still think we're brother and sister. I don't like her. Naw, I don't. That's gross.

And also, she's... strange.

In a good way.

_What's that supposed to mean?_

Gods. Get out of my head.

_Don't tell me what to do, mister. I'm still__—_

Yeah, I know. You're still fuming over what I said before.

_Hmph._

Whatever.

_Nico, you either like Miri or you don't. It's as simple as that._

It's not that simple, goddess.

_How do you know? _I'm_ the goddess of love! And in your case, it _is_ that simple__._

(I paused, aggravated, before roaring to the depths of my brain—)  
GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

_No!_

Leave me alone!

(A girly giggle echoed inside my mind.)  
_Oh, Nico. You're just like your father. He __had__ so many pretty girls__ in the old days—__not as many as Zeus, of course, but __there were still quite a lot and __they were __all__ beautiful. However, all of the male children he produced with them ended up being annoying and stubborn fools like you. See, if he had a child with _Persephone_, even just one, now that's a different case. Their offspring would__—_

SHUT _UP!_

Silence. I hesitated, unsure whether or not she was truly gone, but I regained my confidence again when she didn't reappear for another ten minutes. My thoughts were mine again, and only mine. I sighed aloud in relief.

Then, er, I headed out to find Miri.

* * *

My 'sister' was sitting lazily on an upturned canoe near the lake, watching other people row to and forth, Ray Bans slid over her eyes like an effin' indie rockstar.

"Hellooooo, brother dearest," She drawled as I neared her. I grimaced at the word _brother_, but she continued to smile at me widely, oblivious.

"Hi, uh, Miri." I coughed uncomfortably, feeling less like 'thy king of ghosts' and more like 'the strange adolescent who sometimes hears voices in his head'. (Well, I was both. So there.)

"Hey, have you heard from Dad lately?" She asked. I forced a smile and shook my head, obviously being dishonest I had actually heard from him only a week ago, when he'd told me about Erebus's secret.

"Nah. He's too busy for… us."

"Ah. I see." Miri took her shades off and glanced at me. A little forlornly, I noticed. For a moment, I had the sudden urge to tell her the truth.

And I almost did. The words were just about to slip from my mouth, words about Hades and Erebus and questions like if her mother was in it or not.

But I stopped myself just as my lips parted, as my teeth opened like two sideways gates. Only a rumble from my throat escaped.  
"Mmrargbh."

She wrinkled her nose. "What?"

I hesitated again, before replying quickly, "Nothing. Nothing at all."  
(Like that's the truth.)

"Whatever," She waved her hand in a carefree way and stood up from the canoe. "I think I'm gonna head back to the cabin." She started to walk away, glasses dangling loosely from her fingers.

"Wait!" I called out. Miri stopped and turned around. There was an awkward pause in which she raised her eyebrows and I battled inwardly with my conscience. "Erm… do you know any of Erebus's kids?"

Someone yelled with outrage inside my mind. And it wasn't Aphrodite.

"No," she said with a chuckle. "You've been here longer than I have. Way longer. I wouldn't know anyone you don't know."

"Oh." I scratched my head. She had a point. "But, uh, there _is_ a cabin for Erebus's kids, right?"

"Right."

I nodded. "'Kay. Thanks."

Miri walked away, leaving me behind, wondering to myself if she'd be going to live in _that_ cabin very soon.

* * *

_**A short notice from Miri**_

I hate dancing. Gods, I just hate it. If I was ever to dance in public, it'd be a happy reality-show-worthy moment where everyone watches Miri Agopian trip over her own feet to some weird music playing in the background.

But even though I hate dancing, I love… dances. Balls. Whatever you like to call 'em. As long as it's formal and you get to dress up like a freaky princess, I'm always there. With my raccoon-like eyeliner and party-crashing kit. Mwa ha ha ha.

I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I'm fine with dances, as boring as they may be. But I'm usually found in the back of the room, slurping up fruit punch like a human vacuum cleaner.

Mmm...

What I'm saying is that, um, I probably won't be at the camp dance. I have stuff to do. Yeah.

* * *

**_And... Back to Nico again._**

I wasn't feeling good. Actually, I was feeling sick to my stomach. The kind of get-rid-of your-lunch-and-partly-undigested-breakfast nausea.

"Nico!" Someone called out to me, where I was sitting under the shade of the Fleece-covered guardian tree, hiding from the bright noonday sun. (With my head between my knees. Holding back retch.) I could faintly see the outline of Percy running toward me, pounding footsteps on the grass.

I squinted. Ah. New shoes. That explained his heavy jog.

"What's up, man? You look sick."

Yeah, well, duh. A three-year-old could see that.

"I _am_ sick." My voice came out as a muffled moan.

"Oh. Do you want some ambrosia?" He fumbled with the pocket of his jeans, searching for the ever-present squares that demigods kept with them at all times. When he finally found some, he opened my clenched hand, peeling back my fingers like the skin of a banana, dropping the godly food into my palm.

They helped a little, but not a lot.

There was a quiet minute of stillness. I wanted Percy to leave, but he was probably thinking that he was helping me by being there with his cousin-ly love.

"Did you know that there's a god of sarcasm?"

I looked up. I had a feeling that my eyes were red and bloodshot. "No, Percy, I didn't know that. Now could you go make out with Annabeth or something? I recover more quickly when I'm alone."

He stared at me, and I added, "It's a son-of-Hades thing."

"Yeah, I'm sure it is," he said with a tinge of irony. "But if you want me to leave, I'll go. And anyway, Annabeth…" His eyes glazed over for a moment, glassy with some kind of weird vision (about his girlfriend, of course), before he turned on his heel and scampered away. Yes, scampered, like a dog to its master.

A master that currently resided in Athena's cabin.

Hmm. The ambrosia really was helping. Maybe I could…

"Ahhh…!" I groaned and fell back down. I shouldn't have tried to stand at all, because nausea struck again the second my knees started to straighten up.

"Aww, what's wrong? Wittle baby feelin' sick?"

Another voice. It was… it was…

"Clarisse, leave me alone," I mumbled to my ankles.

"I'm not Clarisse." The person dropped something onto the grass, near my folded up legs.

A pair of Ray Bans.

"Miri?" I raised my head slightly.

"Yes, Nico, who else?" She grinned and plopped down next to me. "And anyway, do you usually have hallucinations of Clarisse? She's taken, you know."

"Shut up," I grumbled. "I might start barfing any minute."

I expected her to leap up with a loud _'ewww!'_, but she merely continued to sit there next to me in silence.

"Well?" I demanded.

"What?"

"Are you going to leave or not?"

Miri glared at me and huffed, "You're so _rude_, Nico!"

"Like you care."

"Actually, I don't. I just said that for the effect."

"What effect?"

Instead of snapping back, she laughed. "Looks like you're better now." She leaned over and…

Kissed me on the forehead.

My eyes widened and I felt my heart race like a teenage girl's, one who had just met her favorite male celebrity and was now hyperventilating with shock.

"Nico!" Someone else called out my name, for the umpteenth time that day, and Miri jumped away from me. I felt myself turn red.

"Chiron." He was galloping toward us, wheelchair-free, a worried expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked as he halted to a stop.

"Your… your father is…"

"What? What's wrong with him?" I didn't even bother reminding Chiron about Miri. He probably knew the truth, too. But really, what had happened to my father? Was that the reason why I had been feeling so unwell?

"He's… gone. Without a trace."

*******

**Review!**


	6. Damn You, They're Not Boring At All!

**I am ASHAMED of my old writing. I think I might go back and redo a few chapters... though I'm not sure if my writing's changed much at all. Has it?**

**You guys have been really supportive—thanks! This was my first fanfiction, I started it some time ago and finished the whole thing in a week... then lost it all except for, like, two chapters. And they sucked. Really bad.  
I will never cram a story into a week ever again... It's not possible now, anyway. But nor will I stick everything onto a single, breakable memory drive.**

*******

Miri

He was frozen.

"Nico?" I reached for his hand. It was clammy, cold. I waited for his response.

Then he gasped, moving at last, eyes wide with disbelief, and spoke Camp Half-Blood's mentor-slash-activities counselor. "What? That's—that's not funny, Chiron. Don't do that to me."

"I'm not joking, Nico. He's gone."

Silence.

He swallowed. "Then I…I have to find him."

The half-horse man bowed his head solemnly. "And you will."

It was as if I was invisible.

"What about me?" I demanded, speaking up. "He's _my_ father, too!"

Chiron stiffened and glanced at Nico, raising his eyebrows in a silent question. Nico nodded in response, and Chiron turned back to me.

"Of course you will go, Miri. I can't see why not."

I looked between them, my eyes narrowed. "What are you hiding?"

Nico looked agonized, and he grimaced, "Nothing."

I gritted my teeth and spat, "Then why don't you want me to come with you? Don't we have to rescue Dad? You've known him longer than I have, but that doesn't mean you're the only one he cares about!"

If I had been talking to anyone else, they would've snorted. Hades, caring?

"Miri…" He blinked at Chiron, who moved his shoulders up and down in a shrug. "Hades… isn't…"

"Isn't _what_?" I challenged, standing up. My fists were clenched at my sides. "Isn't good enough for saving? Isn't a good enough _god_?"

"He isn't your father."

I stumbled back, caught off guard. "What are you talking about? He _claimed_ me. He gave me _this_!" I whipped my pen out, clicked it, and swung it dangerously. Nico flinched as the blade flew over his head.

"He was covering for someone."

"Covering? _Covering?_" I could feel my own voice rise hysterically. "Gods don't _cover_ for people, last time I heard! And even so… the god of the underworld? How unlikely is that?"

"Very unlikely," said Chiron smoothly. "But still possible. After all, it was—"

He stopped abruptly, all the color drained from of his face. Nico made a choking noise and pointed over my head.

"We're dead."

Slowly, bracing myself, I turned my eyes up. The sky was an odd shade of black, the color of tar, with a mysterious streak of purple rolling across. Even on the starless, rainiest of nights, I had never seen the sky so dark.

"He told her!" Nico swore. "All that trouble that Dad went through—he ruined it all!"

_"Who_?" I shouted. "Who are you talking about? Who is _he_, and who is _she_?"

"Erebus," he spat. "God of darkness and shadow. Your dad."

I blanched.

"And it looks like he told Nyx—his wife—about you. You have to—you have to go!" Nico grabbed my arm and tugged, hard.

"Nico!" Chiron hissed urgently. I could barely make out his face; we were being swallowed in black-grey. "You must find your father! There's no time to hide Miri!"

"Then I'm going with him," I snarled. "I'll find Hades. What did Erebus ever do for me? How is he my—my _father_? I'd rather have Hades as a dad. Erebus"—I practically shouted this to the ground, hoping it would reach every corner and cranny of the underworld—"is a _coward_!"

The ground shook slightly. Hades could've caused the earth to rip apart to shreds, but Erebus had only made it tremble.

_Coward._

In the pitch-black darkness, I felt Chiron push something into my arms—a backpack. Had he had it with him the entire time?

"Go! There's a—a prophecy in the bag!" He yelled, and a familiar hand clasped mine. Nico's.

We ran.

* * *

The darkness was unnerving. I didn't mind the creepy, light-less colors themselves, but the blindness was irritating as hell. Nico seemed pretty comfortable about it, but I kept tripping over tree roots and huge boulder-like rocks that seemed to pop out of nowhere.

"Dammit!" I cursed, after falling flat on my face for the umpteenth time. "How'd you get so used to this?" I dusted imaginary dirt off my knees.

"Practice. And living in the underworld."

"Ah. I see."

An awkward quietness came between us. I had the urge to say something, anything, just to break the strange silence. But talking would slow us down.

"Here," said Nico at last, and stopped. In this far area, the sky wasn't nearly as dark. I could see the shape of his face, I could see the color of my own shoes. "Right here. Open the bag. Find anything that feels like paper."

I fumbled with the zippered pockets of the backpack, until my fingers brushed against something small and square—a folded-up scrap of paper.

Nico snapped his fingers, and a tiny black-blue flame danced on the tip of his nails.

"It wouldn't do much back there," he grunted, noticing the weird expression on my face. "It's brighter here, the flame can actually work as a light."

I opened up the note, and he waved his hand over it as a make shift lamplight.

"What the hell?" I hissed. "This is in _English_. How are we supposed to…?"

Nico ignored my irritable comment and squinted, as if narrowing his eyes would cure his dyslexia. "Uh… verir… evrir.."

"River," I whispered, following his lead. "River of… of…"

"River of fire," read Nico, "L-l…"

"Lev…" I threw my arms up. "Ugh! Why can't this be in Greek?"

"Lover," Nico realized, ignoring me again. I didn't even know why I was so angry and _annoyed_ in the first place. Was it because I just discovered I'd been lied to? Was it because my real father was such a wimp?

"River of fire, lover of Styx."

"Ruler lies in its waves," I said softly.

"Product of what enemy inflicts," said Nico.

"Hero will bring him to rise again." I finished.

We glanced at each other. I hadn't met the Oracle, Rachel, yet, but I had heard that she was really cool when not jerking into despair-filled premonition-mode.

"Phlegethon," He whispered. "Hades is in the Phlegethon river. It's parallel to the Styx, its lover."

I creased my brow. "… Lover?" Though I shouldn't have been surprised. Apparently, it's normal for things of nature to fall in love in Greek mythology.

"Yes. Styx loved Phlegethon, but was burned by its flames."

"Oh." I frowned. "So… Hades is in a river of fire? How could he be hurt, though? He sets things on fire all the time. He controls flames."

"This is a mythological river. Think of the Lethe, and how it makes everyone—mortal or immortal—forget so easily. Dad has no advantage with the Phlegethon.

I gave him a wide-eyed look. "So, that means that he could… he could…"

"Die. Fade." Nico's voice was blunt. "If he's in there too long."

I struggled for the right words. "But… if we're going to the underworld…" _Would Erebus be there?_

Nico misunderstood my trailed-off question. "Nyx lives elsewhere," he assured me. "The place where all matter comes from. She'll chase you, but she won't find you unless she wanders into the underworld—which I doubt will happen. She hates that place, even though all her children live there."

I sighed, dropping the subject. "Yeah. Okay."

He studied me. "Are you alright?"

I forced a smile. "I'm fine."

"You can… you can go back if you want to. The camp will protect you. Percy will do his big-shot hero act again."

I chuckled. "No. I'd rather stay with you."

Nico hesitated, before saying, "You know… we're not siblings anymore. We never really were."

I stared at his pale, thin face, illuminated by the glow of his mini-fire, and my breath hitched in my throat.

"I know," I whispered.

I shuffled forward, just a few inches, and his head tilted toward mine…

The fire on his fingertips went out.

"Crap."

* * *

I thought shadow travel was cool. It rustled my hair, slapped my cheeks with cold wind. It was a thrill, a rush of adrenaline. I loved it, and I kinda wished that I could do it myself.

"You can do other things," Nico said when I told him my thoughts. "… Erebus-y things."

I scowled. Gods, I hated that name.

There was still light in New York—the sun was shining, maybe not as bright as it should've been, but glowing yellow nonetheless.

"C'mon," said Nico, walking out of the shadow we'd popped out of. He let go of my arm, which he'd gripped tightly while transporting us to Manhattan. He led the way through Central Park, and I followed. When he stopped at a pile of small rocks and pebbles, I quirked up an eyebrow and smirked.

"Isn't this Orpheus's door? You know… the place where you betrayed Percy?" I had heard a lot of stories in my short time at Camp Half-Blood.

He flushed. "That was… that was a bad decision."

"Mmm-hmm."

He glared at me. "Shut up."

I grinned, reveling in his shamed embarrassment. "Whatever." I turned back to the entrance. "So, uh, how do we get in?"

"Music."

I blinked. "You're gonna sing?"

"No. _You_ are."

I gawked at him, then shook my head wildly. "No way. You're kidding."

"Sing. Just _sing_, sing anything!"

I stared at him incredulously.

He nodded yes.

I swallowed. Stepped up. Racked my mind for a song.

Opened my mouth.

" '_When it started, we had high hopes. Now my back's on the line, my back's on the ropes. When it started, we were alright—but night makes a fool of us in daylight.' _"

The rocks quivered and shook, then slowly moved out of the way. A hole formed.

Nico turned to me, with an expression of someone suffocating on their own laughter. "That was horrible."

My face heated up, and I punched him in the arm. "Thanks a lot. But it worked, see?"

He chuckled, and entered quickly. I did the same. "Yeah. Surprisingly enough."

Our footsteps echoed as we walked slowly down the never-ending stairs. It was pitch-black, and I couldn't see where I was going at all.

"So," Nico started again, apparently trying to make conversation. "What was that song called?"

"What?" I said, startled at his undisguised interest.

"The song you just sang. The one that cracked a bit at the end?"

I didn't even try wasting my energy to glare at him. He probably wouldn't see it, anyway, in the darkness.

"It's called 'Yes'," I muttered.

"By…?"

"By Coldplay."

He snorted. "That band is boring."

"You're boring."

"Great comeback."

"I know."

We walked on in silence, until we finally reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Keep walking," Nico instructed. "Wait till we reach the Styx."

At last, I heard the gushing noise of the river, gurgling out murky black water. Far ahead, there was a blurry dark pinpoint in the distance. Nico ran after the moving shape, following the side of the river, and I bounded after him. As we grew closer, I realized that the slow-moving figure was a person. In a ferry.

My blood ran cold. I'd heard about him.

"Hey!" Nico yelled. "Charon!"

The skeletal man turned around. "I don't stop during a trip, son of Hades." He gestured to the small group of dead people sitting in his boat, blinking curiously at Nico. "You're going to have to go to Los Angeles and wait for me there."

"Come _on_," Nico pleaded. "For me and a relative of yours."

Charon snorted. His ferry wasn't very fast, we barely had to jog to catch up with it. "All demigods are technically related to me. That doesn't work on—" He stopped in mid-sentence and stared right at me. Or, rather, he turned so that his empty eye sockets bore into my face. His jaw twisted and bent to form a creepy smile, and he gave a laugh that rattled his own bones and made the deceased passengers edge away from him.

"Sister," he grinned sadistically. "I thought I'd see you soon. Has Nyx gotten rid of daylight yet? I didn't know she loved Father _that_ much. After all, she wasn't so committed herself… a couple of times. How do you think the hellhounds were born?"

I gaped at him. "You're…"

"A child of Erebus and Nyx," Nico said under his breath.

"Yep." Charon grinned again, and the ferry lurched to a stop. "Hop in. I'm as cheap as ever, but siblings go without payment." He shot a stern look when Nico avoided his gaze. He huffed loudly and handed him a tiny pile of drachmas before sliding in.

The ferry started to move again, and I smiled cheerfully at the dead man next to me. He wore a wrinkled, dusty brown suit and black leather shoes that seemed to have lost their shine.

"Hello. How did you die?"

He turned around, and I saw that half his face was missing—like Harvey Dent from the Batman movie, _The Dark Knight_. I recoiled, more stunned than disgusted.

"Something fell on me," he replied happily. "Not sure what, though."

"Oh."

He stopped talking immediately.

On the other side of me, Nico rolled his eyes. "That's what it's like conversing with the dead."

I frowned. "They're nice enough."

"I guess."

Charon rowed on.

"Hey," Nico said to him, after a while. "We're getting out here."

Charon gave us a look, so I sighed and handed him a couple more drachmas from the backpack. The ferry stopped at once, and Nico and I clambered out.

"There," he breathed, as the ferry slowly moved away from us. He pointed ahead. A blood-red river that seemed to stretch on forever greeted me with a pop as an acidic bubble floated up and burst.

"That… doesn't look like a river of fire," I gasped. "It looks like blood."

Nico leaned down, scooped up a handful of dark sand, and tossed the little grains into the body of 'water' at our feet. The river sloshed and burbled, then—

Burst into flames. The blazes reached high, licking the ceiling-ground above us. Dirt and ash rained down, and I quickly ducked my head. The fire raged on for another minute, until it started to slowly shrink at last, rapidly losing height, until it was just a bloody river of crimson once again.

The whole experience was absolutely terrifying.

I turned to Nico, feeling my face twist into a pained expression, and asked the single, unavoidable question that had been on my mind since we reached Central Park. I hadn't brought it up before. It hadn't been the right time. But this moment, so theatrical and dramatic, was perfect.

"How are we going to get Hades out of the river?"

*******

**_The romance bus will arrive shortly. Maybe._**

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